APCO 10-Codes

Those of you old enough to remember C. W. McCall’s 1975 song ‘Convoy’, or the movie of the same name that followed, will appreciate this list of codes used in the US by police and other agencies. However, since 2006 these codes have been drifting into history as ‘plain speech’ or ‘in the clear’ is now preferred in order to avoid confusion and speed up communications. These codes were also used, in various forms, by truckers and other people in need of short-distance communication, when using CB Radio. The codes have also been widely used in cop movies, to the extent that almost everyone understands “Can you give me your twenty?” to mean ,”Where are you?”, and “Ten-four good buddy to mean,” I acknowledge that, my friend.”